Manua Kea, TMT, and COVID-19 Update in the Hawaiian Nation

05/21/20 • 55 min

Liko Martin and Laulani Teale (Hawaiian Nation). Liko Martin, Haku Mele, is one of Hawai’i’s renowned songwriters and activist; founder or co-founder of many Indigenous organizations; a farmer, fisherman, general cultural practitioner, peacemaker and veteran; a Kupuna Advisor for Ho’opae Pono Peace Project, plus more. Laulani Teale is a musician, artist, cultural practitioner, public health practitioner, web/social media developer, and coordinator for the Ho’opae Pono Peace Project, plus more. Liko Martin and Laulani Teale join us for this exclusive one-hour interview regarding protecting Mauna Kea, an Indigenous Hawaiian sacred site, from the $1.4 Billion Thirty Meter Telescope Project. Our guest address the November 8th, 2019, the University of Hawaii action assuming title over the Mauna Kea lands and the university supporting a new memorandum prohibiting the Kanaka access the Mauna Kea, the thousands of Indigenous Hawaiians and supporters gathered at Mauna Kea, and the scores of arrest since earlier this year which includes those peoples’ daily risking and facing arrest and mass incarceration, plus more. The University of California along with the California Institute of Technology (Cal-Tech), the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Department of Science and Technology of India, and the National Research Council (Canada); the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy are members of The TMT International Observatory LLC (TIO), the non-profit organization responsible for the TMT Project threatening Mauna Kea. American Indian Airwaves regularly broadcast every Thursday from 7pm to 8pm (PCT) on KPFK FM 90.7 in Los Angeles, CA; FM 98.7 in Santa Barbara, CA; FM 99.5 in China Lake, CA; FM 93.7 in North San Diego, CA; FM 99.1 KLBP in Long Beach, CA (Mondays 3pm-4pm); WCRS FM 98.3/102.1 in Columbus, OH, and on the Internet at: www.kpfk.org. Archived American Indian Airwaves podcast on Soundcloud, Stitcher, Turnin, and iTunes. Broadcasted programs on KPFK within the past 60-days can be heard here: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/american-indian-airwaves/ Artist Webpage: https://www.weshoyot.com/

Previous Episode

“COVID-19, Urban Indigenous Los Angeles, Community Responses, Impacts, etc."

Given the spread, severity, and potentially devasting consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic situation in the-midst of stay-at-home ordinances, school and employment closures, etc. throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County regions in southern California, three very important urban Indigenous community members join us for the hour to report on how the larger the urban Los Angeles Indigenous community is being impacted by the COVID-19 debacle, how community members are responding to the COVID-19 epidemic situation throughout the region, what work the guests, colleagues, and community members are performing in this dire time of need, and the guests provide insightful and import information on certain critical services Indigenous organizations provide to Indigenous peoples in the Los Angeles/Orange County areas. Guests: Pat Lopez (Taos/Tiwa Pueblo Nations), community organizer and activist, a Los Angeles City and County Native American Indian Commission County Supervisor appointee (http://www.lanaic.org/commission/committee-to-commissioners/), an OB/GYN Nurse Practitioner (CRNP, MSRN) working as a clinician at the United American Indian Involvement Community Clinic since 2006 (https://uaii.org/health-clinic/). Dr. Andrea Garcia, M.D. (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara Nations) is an appointed commissioner with the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission (http://www.lanaic.org/commission/commissioners/), works with Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health/American Indian Counseling Center (https://locator.lacounty.gov/health/Location/3181175/american-indian-counseling-center), and is a board member for the United American Indian Involvement, Inc. (UAII) (http://uaii.org/about-us/leadership/). Monique Castro (Dine’ Nation), founder and CEO of Indigenous Circle Wellness (www.icowellness.com).

Next Episode

Treaty Violations during COVID-19, & Chiapas Resistance to the Mayan Train

Thursday, 7/2/2020, on American Indian Airwaves, 7pm to 8pm (PCT)- Listen at: http://www.kpfk.org “Colonial Legacies of Treaty Violations and Failed Trust Responsibilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Chiapas Resistance to the $8 Billion-dollar, 948-mile Mayan Train. Part 1: With rising COVID-19 rates across “Indian Country,” in major urban areas with large urban Indigenous populations, and despite passage of The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in which Indian Health Services (HIS) received in April 2020 its last funding installment of $367 million out of $1.032 billion allocated, both Native American health facilities and IHS operations are still critically underfunded. In fact, with the United States (U.S.) government passing the CARES Act, the U.S. is paying closer to .23 cents from approximately .16 cents on the dollar for its treaty obligations. Guests: Stacy A. Bohlen (Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Nation), Chief Executive Officer of the National Indian Health Board, joins us for a brief update on how COVID-19 is impacting “Indian Country,” reveals some of the hardest hit Indigenous Nations NOT reported in the media, articulates the massive infrastructure deficit in Indian Health Service operations and Tribal Health facilities resulting from perpetual failures of the U.S. government’s trust responsibilities with federally recognized Native Nations, plus more. Click on The National Indian Health Board COVID-19 tracker for a COVID-19 update. Francys Crevier (Algonquian First Nation), executive director, National Council of Urban Indian Health, a Washington D.C.-based organization representing 74 urban Indigenous health facilities, joins us for a brief update on how COVID-19 is impacting large urban Native American populations, the systemic lack of proper resources needed for urban Indian organizations, plus more. Part 2: In early June 2020, Mexico’s President López Obrador officially inaugurated the construction of the $8-billion, 948-mile Mayan Train high-speed railroad, an infrastructure project that will begin in Palenque in Chiapas, travel northeast towards to Cancun in Quintana Roo with two routes encircling the entire Yucatan Peninsula link cities, including Mexico City, and towns in five southeastern states or the entire Yucatan Peninsula for tourism, transportation, and economic purposes. The Mayan Train project commences in the heart of the traditional territories of the Mayan people in Chiapas and the “Project” is opposed by Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). Guests: Richard Stahler-Sholk, Professor of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University, joins us for this segment of the program to discuss how Mayan Indigenous peoples have been mobilizing and resisting the proposed construction of the Mayan Train, the political and environmental devastation the “Project” will cause, the rise of the ECO-Tourism industry perpetuating greater and more romanticizing stereotypes about the Mayan peoples and Chiapas, and the political consequences and successes from resisting construction of the Mayan Train project, plus more. American Indian Airwaves regularly broadcast Thursdays from 7pm to 8pm (PCT) on KPFK FM 90.7 in Los Angeles, CA; FM 98.7 in Santa Barbara, CA; FM 99.5 in China Lake, CA; FM 93.7 in North San Diego, CA; FM 99.1 KLBP in Long Beach, CA (Thursdays 5pm-6pm); WCRS FM 98.3/102.1 in Columbus, OH, and streams live on the Internet at: www.kpfk.org and on Apple ITunes. Archived American Indian Airwaves programs can be heard here: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/american-indian-airwaves/ (60-days only). American Indian Airwaves is also available on https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp (up to one-year). American Indian Airwaves podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn.